Here is some video of my quad in action from today. Its super fun flying like this in rate mode! I love it! Was a little windy but the quad didn't even flinch from it. I am running 2.4 software with zero PID tuning. Heres my build if anyone is interested: http://aeroquad.com/showthread.php?2181-My-first-build

The crash was because an EPP prop broke midflight. My quad is pretty heavy and I have read about heavy quads having issues with the EPP props. I will switch back to APC now.

http://vimeo.com/23760334

tori

05-15-2011, 10:11 PM

Nice crash, bits and pieces everywhere :-)

Out of curiosity, why did you try EPP (I'm assuming you used APC before since now you're switching back to them)?

bmilleker

05-15-2011, 10:17 PM

Nice crash, bits and pieces everywhere :-)

Out of curiosity, why did you try EPP (I'm assuming you used APC before since now you're whitching back to them)?

Haha yeah definitely a nice crash. The battery went flying and all the other props broke off too. The frame is a beast though and took no damage other than a couple broken mounts. Its all fixed and flying again :).

I am just learning how to fly and the EPP props are a lot cheaper than APC. I got 24 EPP pairs for $66 from RCTimer. So I thought I may as well learn on cheaper ones. I actually like how it flies with the EPP props, other than them breaking mid flight. If my quad was smaller and lighter I don't think they would have broken.

kevo

05-16-2011, 06:22 PM

Are you SURE you broke a prop inflight ?? .. I just took a quick look over your vid frame by frame before the crash , and it looks to me like you have 4 full sized props , even as it started its final flip.

One of the best things about videoing your flights ( And crashes ) is that you can look them over and know what caused the crash.

bmilleker

05-16-2011, 06:26 PM

Are you SURE you broke a prop inflight ?? .. I just took a quick look over your vid frame by frame before the crash , and it looks to me like you have 4 full sized props , even as it started its final flip.

One of the best things about videoing your flights ( And crashes ) is that you can look them over and know what caused the crash.

I was assuming I had broke a prop. This has happened to me before when flying more aggressively. I am not sure what else would have caused me to lose control like that.

It could have been a motor or esc cutting out or something. How would I test for that safely? Tying the quad down and maxing throttle to see if they all spin the same and nothing cuts out?

aadamson

05-16-2011, 07:47 PM

did you make sure and set your voltage cutoff to nicad on the ESC programming? That will get you every time if you don't. Also, make sure you use Rate mode for that kind of flying as the accel weighting isn't working right in attitude to allow that the the AHRS will develop a pitch or roll offset as a result. We are working on this issue currently and hope to have something soon to remedy it, but it's only applicable to attitude mode.

bmilleker

05-16-2011, 07:58 PM

did you make sure and set your voltage cutoff to nicad on the ESC programming? That will get you every time if you don't. Also, make sure you use Rate mode for that kind of flying as the accel weighting isn't working right in attitude to allow that the the AHRS will develop a pitch or roll offset as a result. We are working on this issue currently and hope to have something soon to remedy it, but it's only applicable to attitude mode.

I have not set my ESC's battery type to nicad. I will definitely look in to this. I have Turnigy Plush 30A ESC's. Why must we do this? I have been flying this quad for a couple months now, if this is infact the issue, why wouldn't this have happened earlier? Why did it happen this time? Wouldn't my battery monitor alert me to low voltage before the ESC shuts down?

This video was all rate mode. I try to stay in rate mode because its more fun :P. I can pitch and roll a heck of a lot more than in attitude mode.

Edit: After doing some reading about my ESC's, they should be set to lipoly by default, so I will need to make that change. Still not sure why we set it to nicad.

tori

05-16-2011, 08:58 PM

It could have been a prop adapter getting loose. Did you get any telemetry down? A broken prop is pretty directly visible from acceleration plots.

We set them to NiCd because they have lower cell voltages, so an ESC with a low-cutoff NiCd will basically not cut off at all. Which is what we want.

bmilleker

05-16-2011, 09:19 PM

It could have been a prop adapter getting loose. Did you get any telemetry down? A broken prop is pretty directly visible from acceleration plots.

We set them to NiCd because they have lower cell voltages, so an ESC with a low-cutoff NiCd will basically not cut off at all. Which is what we want.

I don't think it was a prop adapter. The broken props were on there tight when I fixed them after. No telemetry about it. I am not even sure how I do that.